NCAA Baseball Tournament Preview

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The 2014 NCAA Division I
Baseball Championships begins Friday, May 30 with Columbia opening
competition against Texas Tech at 2 p.m. The Lions and Red Raiders
will be joined in the Coral Gables Region by host Miami and
Bethune-Cookman who will play Friday night at 7 p.m.

Coverage for all games from each of the 16 Regional sites will
be available on ESPN3 or the WatchESPN App on mobile devices.
In the booth for the Coral Gables Regional will be Doug
Sherman handling play-by-play, with Leland
Maddox providing the color commentary. Columbia fans can
also tune into the Ivy
League® Digital Network for a free, live audio stream with
Lance Medow on the call.

Miami is hosting its 25th Regional this weekend, and first since
2012 at Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field. Fellow ACC
schools, Florida State and Virginia, are also hosting regionals
this weekend.

SCOUTING COLUMBIA
Winners of 21 of its last 24 games, including a win streak that
lasted a program-record 15 games along the way, Columbia caught the
attention of the selection committee, earning the Ivy
League’s first ever three seed in regional format. Columbia
posted an impressive 29-18 record this season, with crucial wins
when it counted. Columbia needed a Gehrig Division Playoff victory
over Penn to advance to the Ivy League Championship Series and then
kept its foot on the gas pedal with a sweep of Dartmouth in the
ILCS to earn the Ancient Eight’s automatic bid to the NCAA
Championships.

The heralded group on the field set a new program record with 11
All-Ivy League selections and matched the program record with four
first team selections. Senior pitcher David Speer,
first-year second baseman Will Savage, junior
third baseman David Vandercook and outfielder
Gus Craig all earned top billing to the All-Ivy
first team.

Columbia also captured three of the top awards handed down by
the conference office. Speer become the League’s first
unanimous Pitcher of the Year selection since 2004, while Savage
capture Rookie of the Year honors and the Blair Bat Award after
leading the conference with a .414 batting average during Ivy
League games.

Pitching and athleticism have been the preaching stones of head
coach Brett Boretti, who is leading the Lions to a
third NCAA Championship appearance in the last six years. Speer has
been the stalwart of the rotation, posting a 7-2 record and a
microscopic 1.86 ERA in 12 starts. The senior co-captain has tossed
87 innings this season, striking out 75, while allowing just seven
walks. Those numbers equate to a 10.7-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio,
the second-best figure in the nation.

Sophomore Kevin Roy, an All-Ivy League
honorable mention selection, has also been dominant on the bump.
The Houston native is allowing just 5.74 hits per nine frames, the
10th-lowest mark in the nation. In 62.2 innings of work, Roy has
limited opposing hitters to a .183 batting average, while striking
out 48. Classmate George Thanopoulos has had a
breakout season, being named to the Gregg Olson Award watch list
earlier this month for his efforts on the hill. The Highland,
California native moved into the starting rotation mid-season,
posting a 5-2 record and 2.81 ERA in six starts. In total,
Thanopoulos has made 14 appearances this season, throwing 48
innings, with 40 strikeouts.

As a staff, the Lions have struck out 339 batters this season,
which trails only last year’s 357 K’s for the most in a
single season by a Lions’ squad.

The other half of the Lions’ winning equation,
athleticism, has been proven both offensively and defensively.
Columbia’s current fielding percentage of .975 is on pace to
set a new program record, while ranking 24th in the nation. On the
base paths, Columbia runners have combined for 64 steals, tying the
sixth best total in program history. Second-team All-Ivy selection
Jordan Serena leads the way in that category,
swiping 25 bases this season. Savage has also had the green light
this year, successfully stealing 14 bases in 16 attempts.

The speedy duo of Serena and Savage also comprises the top-two
batting and on-base averages on the team. Savage comes in at .338
with 14 RBI and a .401 OBP, while Serena has a .302 average, .404
OBP and a team-leading 54 hits.

Craig leads the power bats of the Columbia lineup with six long
balls and a .493 slugging mark. Vandercook and Robb
Paller are tied for the team-lead with 34 RBI. Vandercook
also has a knack for the home run, launching five this season,
while also racking up a team-high 14 doubles. Paller comes into the
regional with 11 doubles and three home runs.

SCOUTING TEXAS TECH
The Red Raiders are back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time
since 2004 after playing to a 40-18 record, which earned them the
No. 23 ranking in the latest USA Today Coaches’ and NCBWA
polls. Texas Tech’s at-large selection to the Coral Gables
Regional will mark their 10th postseason appearance in program
history.

Texas Tech was stellar at home this season, posting a 31-4
record, but struggled away from Rip Griffin Park, going just 9-14
in road and neutral games. In the Big 12, the Red Raiders were
14-10.

Eric Gutierrez is the lone Red Raider to start
all 58 games this season. The 2013 Collegiate Baseball Louisville
Slugger Freshman All-America selection is hitting at a .313 clip
with a team-leading 12 homers and 56 RBI. Outfielder Adam
Kirsch has also become a staple in the Texas Tech lineup
since transferring from FIU. Kirsch is tied with Byrant
Burleson for the team-lead with 19 doubles, while also
smacking nine home runs, driving in 48 runs and batting .300.
Fellow outfielder Tyler Neslony holds the Red
Raiders’ top batting average at .412, making 35 starts this
season.

Chris Sadberry has been tapped as the probable
starter for Texas Tech for Friday’s matchup. The lefthander,
who played for Louisiana Tech and Grayson County College before
joining Texas Tech as a redshirt junior this season, made a
team-high 14 starts, posting a 4-2 record and 3.45 ERA. Over his
team-high 73 innings of work, Sadberry has struck out 47, walked 19
and giving up 28 earned runs.

SCOUTING MIAMI
The Hurricanes have been a staple at the NCAA Championships for
over four decades, as they have not missed the postseason since the
1972 campaign. Miami won its second regular season ACC Championship
this season with a 24-6 conference mark, while going 41-17
overall.

Senior outfielder Dale Carey leads the
Hurricane’s offense with a .313 batting average and 15
doubles, good for 28 RBI. First-year catcher Zack
Collins has earned his spot in the Miami lineup, leading
the team with 49 RBI and nine deep balls. Similar to Columbia,
Miami likes to run when it gets on base, swiping 58 bags this year.
Tyler Palmer leads the charge with 18 steals,
while Carey comes in with 16.

Junior lefty Chris Diaz has been the ace for
Miami, posting a 9-0 record in 15 starts with a 2.31 ERA. In 93.2
innings, Diaz has struck out 80 hitters, while limiting opposing
teams to just 24 earned runs. Another lefthander, Bryan
Radziewski, enters the weekend with a 3.14 ERA and a 7-2
record in 15 starts. Radziewski has a team-high 102 strikeouts in
91.2 innings. Another southpaw, Andrew Suarez has
seen the most action this season, tossing 100.2 innings, earning a
3.22 ERA and a 5-3 record, also in 15 starts.

SCOUTING BETHUNE-COOKMAN
The Wildcats (26-31) are making their 16th NCAA Championship
appearance, and fourth in Coral Gables, in program history.
Bethune-Cookman won the Mid-Eastern Athletics Conference for the
eighth time in the last 10 years to earn the league’s
automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

With only eight homers on the year as a team, the Wildcats have
need to generate runs other ways. Senior infielder Eric
Sams paces B-C’s offense, with a .321 average and 69
hits that has included 15 doubles. Sams has also come around to
score a team-high 42 times this season. Redshirt junior
Jordan Robinson has driven in a team-best 30 RBI
while batting .251. Senior outfielder Eros Modena
is second on the team with 25 RBI on 51 hits, just 13 of those
going for extra bases.

Senior right-hander Montana Durapau is the
clear ace from Bethune Cookman. In 15 starts, Durapau has an 11-1
record and a 1.71 ERA over 110.1 innings. Fellow righty
Keith Zuniga has a 7-4 mark with a 2.59 ERA in 13
starts.